Complete Cascade Conference Championship Results

NAMPA, Idaho – The Southern Oregon University men controlled the track this weekend, and now the Raiders control the Cascade Collegiate Conference. Again.

The Raiders claimed three more running events Saturday at the CCC Track and Field Championships presented by U.S. Bank, allowing them to maintain a slim edge over favorite and second-ranked Concordia for their second straight conference title. SOU led by 8 2/3 points after Friday's first batch of events and finished with 188 to the Cavaliers' 183 2/3. 

Cameron Bremner (Tigard, Ore./Tigard), a freshman sprinter from Tigard, pulled off consecutive upsets to win the 100- and 200-meter sprints, giving him three titles after he assisted SOU's 4x100-meter relay team's school-record effort on Friday.

The scales tipped, however, when Eric Avila (Chula Vista, Calif./Bonita Vista), the Men's Athlete of the Meet, won the 5,000 meters – a race the SOU coaching staff hadn't planned on putting him in until late Friday. Avila, who won the 1,500-meter race on Friday, started the second day of competition by placing second in the 800 meters with a personal-best time of 1 minute, 50.83 seconds. Less than an hour later he labored through the 5K, clocking a time of 14:42.11 that was more than a minute over his best but two-tenths of a second better than Eastern Oregon's DJ Flores, whom Avila had to rally to catch over the final mile.

Avila was the only runner to race both the 800 and 5K.

"He was outstanding," SOU head coach Grier Gatlin said. "That 800 was basically a national championship preview, and for him to turn around right after that and do what he did in the 5K was unbelievable."

Gatlin was named the CCC Men's Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

The Raiders now have seven CCC titles, matching Concordia for the most since the meet's 1995 inception. The Cavaliers won theirs consecutively before SOU ended the run in 2013.

SOU did it this time despite netting exactly zero points from the pole vault, shot put, discus and javelin – competitions in which Concordia amassed 74 points.

But after Jonz Olander (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass) (400m), Eric Ghelfi (Redding, Calif./Redding Adventist Academy) (10,000m), Avila (1500m) and the 4x100-meter relay team delivered wins on Friday, there was plenty more to celebrate on the track Saturday. 

Bremner's time of 10.78 seconds in the 100-meter dash was a PR by a hundredth of a second, fourth-best in SOU history and better than runner-up Ka'imi Scott of Warner Pacific by six-hundredths of a second. Olander, whose time of 10.92 seconds won the race last year, placed fourth in 10.96 and Kermit Knight (Stockton, Calif./Edison) scored in seventh (11.14).

In the 200, Bremner outdid his previous best by .38 seconds in 21.60, giving him an NAIA 'B' standard qualifying mark and the second-fastest time in SOU history. Olander, who also won that event in 2013, contributed six points in third (21.86).

"Jonz is no slouch, so for Cameron to beat him twice – holy cow, he was good," Gatlin said. "He was so sharp for a freshman; not panicked at all and just totally focused."

Even though Avila hit a PR in the 800, he couldn't catch Eastern Oregon's Hans Roelle, who set a meet record with a time of 1:49.76. SOU's Kevin Jorgensen (Yreka, Calif./Yreka) was also third in the race, though, finishing with a PR of 1:51.21 to make him fifth in SOU history.

"Kevin sneaking up to get third and bump Concordia's guys to fourth and fifth was really when it started to turn around for us," Gatlin said. "Kevin had a great day, and that was huge."

Avila's effort was just the highlight of a 5,000-meter race in which the Raiders racked up 22 points. Jared Hixon (Palmdale, Calif./Palmdale) placed fourth (14:59.24), Cary Dunagan (Reno, Nev./) fifth (15:13.03) and Aaron Brenton (Cheyney, Wash./Cheney) sixth (15:27.46).

Devan Barkley (Stockton, Calif./Lincoln) chipped in a fourth-place showing in the 400-meter hurdles – he was also third Friday in the 110-meter hurdles – and the Raiders clinched their win when the 4x400-meter relay team took third (3:19.03) in the final event of the day. Bremner, Jorgensen, Barkley and Olander made up the quartet.

Sam Hartinger (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual) and Anthony Neal (Central Point, Ore./Crater) gave the Raiders their only field points of the day in the triple jump. Hartinger, the defending champ in the event, placed second with a mark of 45 feet, 3 1/2 inches, and Neal's 43-3 1/4 was good for fourth.

"To go in and be a 15- to 20-point underdog on paper, it goes to show that when these kind of meets are close, every detail is so important," Gatlin said.

Concordia's Darien Moore was named the Field Athlete of the Meet after setting new meet records in the shot put (63-4 1/2) and hammer (211-8) and placing second in the discus.

Eastern Oregon claimed third place (112 points) and College of Idaho was fourth (97).

The Raiders will now set their sights on the NAIA Championships, which will take place May 22-24 in Gulf Shores, Ala.

CASCADE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men's Team Scores – Southern Oregon 188, Concordia 183.33, Eastern Oregon 112, College of Idaho 97, Corban 91.33, Oregon Tech 51, Warner Pacific 48, Evergreen 26, Northwest Christian 9, Northwest 6.33.

COMPLETE SOU RESULTS (team points in parentheses)

DAY 2

100m (19 entrants)

1. Cameron Bremner (Tigard, Ore./Tigard), 10.78 (10)

4. Jonz Olander (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass), 10.96 (5)

7. Kermit Knight (Stockton, Calif./Edison), 11.14 (2)

14. Robert Benamati (Fernley, Nev./Fernley), 11.43

200m (14)

1. Cameron Bremner (Tigard, Ore./Tigard), 21.60 (10)

3. Jonz Olander (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass), 21.86 (6)

10. Robert Benamati (Fernley, Nev./Fernley)

800m (20)

2. Eric Avila (Chula Vista, Calif./Bonita Vista), 1:50.83 (8)

3. Kevin Jorgensen (Yreka, Calif./Yreka), 1:51.21 (6)

11. Matt Battaglia (Salinas, Calif./Salinas), 1:57.64

5000m (17)

1. Eric Avila (Chula Vista, Calif./Bonita Vista), 14:42.11 (10)

4. Jared Hixon (Palmdale, Calif./Palmdale), 14:59.24 (5)

5. Cary Dunagan (Reno, Nev./), 15:13.03 (4)

6. Aaron Brenton (Cheyney, Wash./Cheney), 15:27.46 (3)

12. Connor Cushman (West Linn, Ore./West Linn), 15:47.49

14. Eric Ghelfi (Redding, Calif./Redding Adventist Academy), 15:51.57

400m Hurdles (15)

4. Devan Barkley (Stockton, Calif./Lincoln), 56.99 (5)

12. Najee Williams (Los Angeles, Calif./), 1:02.36

4x400m Relay (10)

3. SOU (Cameron Bremner (Tigard, Ore./Tigard), Kevin Jorgensen (Yreka, Calif./Yreka), Devan Barkley (Stockton, Calif./Lincoln), Jonz Olander (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass)), 3:19.03 (6)

Triple Jump (15)

2. Sam Hartinger (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual), 13.80m (45-3.50) (8)

4. Anthony Neal (Central Point, Ore./Crater), 13.19m (43-3.25) (5)

7. Lake Sain-Thomson, 12.91m (42-4.25)

DAY 1
400m (16 entrants)

1. Jonz Olander (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass), 48.25 (10)

1500m (18)

1. Eric Avila (Chula Vista, Calif./Bonita Vista), 3:46.96 (10)

4. Jared Hixon (Palmdale, Calif./Palmdale), 3:51.40 (5)

6. Kevin Jorgensen (Yreka, Calif./Yreka), 3:51.91 (3)

10. Zach Boyd-Helm (West Linn, Ore./West Linn), 3:58.53

10000m (15)

1. Eric Ghelfi (Redding, Calif./Redding Adventist Academy), 32:17.88 (10)

7. Cody Carter (The Dalles, Ore./Wahtonka), 33:06.72 (2)

8. Dylan Paulk (Portland, Ore./Grant), 33:20.99, (1)

10. Will Parke-Hoffman (Corvallis, Ore./Corvallis), 33:30.95

13. Greg Garcia (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo), 34:01.52

110m Hurdles (9)

3. Devan Barkley (Stockton, Calif./Lincoln), 15.56 (6)

9. Najee Williams (Los Angeles, Calif./), DNS

3000m Steeplechase (5)

2. Cary Dunagan (Reno, Nev./), 9:31.88 (8)

3. Trevor Lynn (Dana Point, Calif./Dana Hills), 9:46.99 (6)

4x100m Relay (7)

1. SOU (Kermit Knight (Stockton, Calif./Edison), Cameron Bremner (Tigard, Ore./Tigard), Robert Benamati (Fernley, Nev./Fernley), Jonz Olander (Grants Pass, Ore./Grants Pass)), 41.58 (8)

Hammer (11)

4. Markus Sanders (Modesto, Calif./Carthage), 56.22m (184-5.75) (5)

Long Jump (15)

5. Anthony Neal (Central Point, Ore./Crater), 6.69m (21-11.50) (4)

6. Sam Hartinger (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual), 6.65m (21-10) (3)

7. Lake Sain-Thomson, 6.53m (21-5.25) (2)

High Jump (12)

6. Sam Hartinger (Escondido, Calif./San Pasqual), 1.91m (6-3.25) (3)

11. Anthony Neal (Central Point, Ore./Crater), 1.78m (5-10)

Discus (16)

16. Markus Sanders (Modesto, Calif./Carthage), foul

Decathlon (8)

4. Anthony Neal (Central Point, Ore./Crater), 4999 (5)